ROBERT-HOUDIN, Jean Eugene.:
THE SHARPER DETECTED AND EXPOSED London, Chapman and Hall, 1863.. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, 1863. 8vo, approximately 195 x 130 mm, 7½ x 5 inches, illustrated with line drawings in the text, pages: [i-iii], iv-xii, [1], 2-268, original publisher's dark green pebble cloth, gilt lettering to spine, blind decoration to covers, original pale yellow endpapers, small binder's ticket on last pastedown (Bone and Son). Binding slightly rubbed, pale patches to covers, first inner paper hinge cracked, pale foxing mostly to margins, occasional small pale brown spot, 1 page has a small pale stain, neat ink inscription at top of title page "J. W. Hinchcliffe from his friend the translator", otherwise a very good copy in the original cloth binding. Robert-Houdin possessed the ability of creative genius. His originality was aided by his vast knowledge in the technology of clockmaking. It was his knowledge of complex mechanisms which led to his development of "Automata," of which one of his most famous automatons was "The Orange Tree." Escape artist icon Harry Houdini (born Ehrich Weiss) was so impressed by Robert-Houdin that after reading his autobiography in 1890, Ehrich adopted the stage name of "Houdini" in honor of Robert-Houdin. See: Raymond Toole Stott, A Bibliography of English Conjuring 1581-1876, page 201, no, 607; Clarke and Blind, Bibliography of Conjuring, page, 65; Harry Price, Short-title catalogue of works on psychical research, page 327; Sotheby's J. B. Findlay Collection, Part II, no 562. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING. POSTAGE AT COST.
[Bookseller: Roger Middleton]